San Diego Hospice sits on a bluff high above Mission Valley with views all the way to the ocean on a clear day.
— Earnie Grafton

Maybe once a month, Peter Jensen walks the winding path to the memorial point behind San Diego Hospice where his wife’s name is engraved on a paving stone.

He stands there with his memories, looking west from the hospice’s blufftop property at the city down below and Mission Bay off in the distance.

“I’m not the kind of person who goes and visits cemeteries, but I felt the need to have a place that would literally be a touchstone to stand there and remember her,” Jensen said.

San Diego Hospice recently told the public it would close and is proceeding toward a bankruptcy auction of its eight-acre Hillcrest property on April 30. Scripps Health has stepped in with an initial offer of $10.7 million, but a private developer could bid more, making the hospice’s future uncertain.

That uncertainty makes Jensen and many others who have memorials and memories at the facility nervous.

“It’s very concerning to me that, if the building is repurposed in some way, the site might not be there anymore,” he said.

Since the first wing of the 24-bed hospice hospital opened in 1992, it has accepted memorials and tributes in the names of departed loved ones who came to Hillcrest to spend the last few weeks or months of their lives.

But the hospital has been closed since the end of 2012. Leaders have said that the hospice’s difficulties with a Medicare audit that appears to question its reimbursement practices is the main reason why the venerable institution, once the largest of its kind with a worldwide reputation, must close.

San Diego Hospice is working closely with Scripps Health, which is accepting many of the hospice’s 400 remaining home-care patients and hiring as many of its employees as possible.

Chris Van Gorder, Scripps’ chief executive officer, said in an email Sunday afternoon that the health care company plans to use the 8.24-acre property as a “small inpatient hospice as the facility is perfectly designed for that use and not much else.”

“In addition, we would intend to honor the past memorials and recognition to donors as well as the path around the facility, which so many use,” Van Gorder said.

Scripps’ offer, its attorney has said, is based on a fair appraisal of the property’s value, but there is always the possibility that a developer might bid more for this parcel with a 180-degree view of Mission Valley.

The property’s underlying zoning is for low-density multiunit residential use, which allows one dwelling unit per 3,000 square feet. That breaks down to a maximum of 119 dwelling units for the property.

Travis Ives, a commercial real estate broker with Cushman & Wakefield in San Diego, said developer interest, if there is any, is most likely to favor homes over medical office buildings or other commercial uses.

“Multifamily is in high demand in that area. You’re not going to get office; you’re not going to get medical office,” Ives said.

He added that he recently did research on another Hillcrest property that was planned for use as medical office buildings to see what it would be worth if it went residential.